As you enter the gardens from the street, you realise that the curved white fence-posts with the strange-seeming cross-baring between them are large, curved rib bones; Likely from a whale, if their size is any judge. Within the walled off area, however, the ground is rich and lush; Tall fruit trees, staggered so that during any given season at least a few of the barrier-ring of trees would be in bloom and part giving fruit, rest covered with a network of creeping vines along the trunks. The ground seems almost carpeted by herbal beds full of mint, garlic, any number of things that one can imagine are likely here, growing.

The area seems to be a large, circular space; Trees at the far outside, concentretic rings of herb beds, and then a ring of low to the ground fruit-bushes. Where the ground is visable, it seems that the dirt has a strange consistancy, like light, bleached woodchips. In the center of this large garden is a grassy field, perhaps 60 feet across, at the very center of which is a water fountain; Upon the fountain's central pillar, in very small text, lists of names are written. When you find the name of someone who you had heard died within the last few months, you realise the morbid truth; This place of lush, nurtured growth is a graveyard.

Humidity is the one thing in the life of Kirigakure that she could thoroughly do without. Renai reaches up to her long, thick hair and tries to coax the escaping tendrils back into place-one one side, her other being unreachable due to the sling, er.. restraint her arm is in. The girl huffs with an annoyed sigh and goes back to her chore.

She has a basket placed on the edge of the central water fountain of the Gardens. A few herbs have been gathered and placed inside it, carefully arranged and damp from both cleaning and the damp air. The owner, Renai, is found a few feet away, tucking a piece of paper into her pocket and scanning the ground for the next herb. She has a kunai help between her teeth for easier access. She's had to dig up quite a few so far.

Keichi was around in Kiri again. Prepping for some more mentorship by Ishino. He's sitting on a bench made of bones, looking around curiously while tinkering (it sounds like he's cranking something) with a wooden object below a sheath, hiding it from others and protecting the vunrable insides from the humidity. "Come on Mandoreku, why do you keep doing this to me.." Silly Keichi, talking to puppets as if they're pets. He's weird like that. Occasionally his hand twitches, causing a shadow that's curled up around his body protectively to move a bit, currently, a dragon with yellow lightning bolts painted over its side is looking over Keichi's shoulder at what he's doing. The man is a walking puppet show. He's also carrying some massive scrolls.

Right now he's wearing a black Kimono with red flames near the bottom. These flames curl together and form a rose on his right shoulder. He's also wearing some leather or bearskin pants, that fit tightly around his legs. *Crank crank* …

Renai pauses in what she's doing, her body straightening up and her head lifting. She clutches a group of flowers she was able to simply pick instead of digging up. What is that noise? She looks around a bit, spotting Keichi. He seems to be the only other person here that she can tell. She turns slowly around once more to be sure. Nearing her basket, she lays the flowers down and tentatively makes her way over toward the person, clutching her hand against her stomach and pulling her bad arm in protectively.

She pauses a few feet away from him and he might be able to hear the ticking that comes from her. It's soft and quiet and calming in a way. Her eyes look over his appearance, taking in his clothing and then the sight of his "puppets." Finally, she speaks, "Is that a dragon?" Her eyes are wide. One might thing she is afraid, but she is deeply curious.

Keichi looks up and smiles. "Well, sort of yes.." He replies, looking at Renai. "And you're collecting herbs. Another vegetarian?" He asks curiously. He noticed there barely are any in the continent. So meeting a fellow vegetarian is always great! "This is Mandoreku.." He lifts up the dragon he's tinkering with. "And that's Raidoreku.." He points at Raidoreku over his shoulder. "They're not eh… Realy real.." He chuckles. "I just occasionally forget that!" …

He then turns a bit and faces Renai a bit better. "What's your name little girl?"

She almost looks offended when he calls her a vegetarian, like that's some sort of dirty word. She's just eats.. a lot, very little grain, but vegetables and meat of all kinds, all the time. Her thoughts of her diet are cast away quickly though when he talks about the dragons. Her head turns to them and she eyes each with interest, stepping closer to him-almost too close.

"Touketsu Renai," she introduces herself absently. A bold hand reaches up to attempt touching one of the puppets if she would be allowed. "So they're puppets, yes? I know someone else who uses them." The ticks from this distance are a little louder, seeming to originate from something in her pocket.

"I do too. It's why I'm here actually." Keichi smiles and makes Raidoreku respond to the touch like a cat would, giving loving heads to Renai. Even making some typical puppet wooden clicking and clacking sounds. With a few twitches of his fingers. He grins. "Cool huh? I tried a lot of puppets, but I only kept the triplets.." Yep, there's a third! "That ticking, I know that from somewhere…" He mentions, looking around to try and originate it. He heard it before, on Ishino…

"There's another?!" Renai exclaims, her eyes widening again. "Wow, you must be really strong." When he mentions the ticking, she reaches into her pocket with her good hand and retrieves a small pocket watch. She shows it to him, but doesn't really let it out of her hand. That watch is the only thing separating her from certain death. "I got it to make sure that I'm never late. The Touketsu are known for our pin-point scheduling, but Doihara-sensei is especially strict with time." She slides the pocket watch back into its place. "So you are here to see him then?"

Keichi chuckles. "Actually I'm pretty average…" He looks at Renai and nods. "I'll remember that, and no… I have met him before actually. I'm just getting my bearings!" He smiles and cranks Mandoreku one more time. "So Man, you feeling like a test run?" He chuckles and lets the dragon slither out from his lap, wrapping around Renai protectively. "He says hi…"

Renai stays rather still as she watches the dragon move from his lap and as he wraps around her. She looks down to its body, shifting just a bit to keep weight from her injured shoulder. "Why, hello." Her voice is soft as she speaks to the puppet, running a good hand over one of its arms. Her eyes turn to Keichi, her eyes alight with amusement. "I wish I could do something like this. It's so interesting."

Keichi was equally careful to alleviate any pressure from possible reaching her arms. Slowly pulling Mandoreku back. He smiles. "It's no different than any other talents. I'm sure you have some badass ninjutsu I'll be jealous off as well!" He chuckles and leans down, his nearly red eyes staring deeply into Renai's. "Got any cool jutsu?"

Renai looks up to him considering for a moment as the dragon leaves her. This would probably be an unwise decision. She moves her injured shoulder for a second, testing the motion of it. It will probably be okay. This will probably just be a friendly spar after all. "I can show you if you'd like. I know a few techniques." She moves her good arm to untie the sling, pulling it off and tossing it aside. Her bad arm stretches out and she presses fingers into the muscles of her shoulder to be sure. It's still sore, but nearly healed.

With that, she moves away, looking for a spot where they won't disturb any valuable plants. Finding a good spot, she turns to him, her fingers folding into a focusing seal.

He perches an eyebrow and follows along. "Sure… Ehm, you sure your arm is okay?" Keichi looks at his dragon who looks back at him. It was one big puppet show. "Just eh, be careful. Don't make an injury worse!" He smiles. "We can also spar another time…" He seems sweet and concerned. So un-kiri!

Renai makes a small 'pft' noise at him. "I'm fine." She's so tired of people fussing over her. Every time she gets hurt. It's like a scratch would be the end of her. Her annoyance shows clearly on her face ."I just fought a Shirayuki a week ago is all." She sighs, "I'll tell you if I'm being pushed too much. Just don't hit my shoulder, okay? Or.. right here.." She gently touches her stomach. Her fingers fold into another seal and the ground around her starts trembling. Cracks form upon the surface of the ground and she focuses the earth jutsu, drawing the dirt into balls. She forms the ram seal and the dirt lurches toward him like hail.

COMBAT: Renai attacks Keichi with EARTHEN-RAIN…16

COMBAT: Keichi defends against EARTHEN-RAIN(16) attack from Renai with a CLONE-TECHNIQUE…38

Keichi looks at Renai and nods, smiling at seeing the earth jutsu. "Nice move.." He says, though when she hits him and his dragons they simply poof. One of them is soaring high about the fountain. Aiming down and firing a kunai at her!

In the end, Keichi fired the harmless wooden kunai. But still, it's enough to stimulate a spar. He's careful like that.

COMBAT: Keichi attacks Renai with NIN-TRAINING…12

COMBAT: Renai defends against NIN-TRAINING(12) attack from Keichi with a DODGE…19

The green-haired girl dodges to the side, her eyes moving to follow the kunai and then lifting up to the dragon in the air. Interesting. She looks to Keichi, smiling. "You have to explain to me how you do that sometime."

The dirt falls and she changes the style of her hands seals, trying something a little more subtle. This time, the technique would simple make him feel like he's being pulled into the ground. Unless, of course, he figures it out, which she assumes he will.

COMBAT: Renai attacks Keichi with HEAVY…23

COMBAT: Keichi defends against HEAVY(23) attack from Renai with a GENJUTSU-PERCEPTION…25

Keichi feels heavy, and considers the jutsu for a moment… Earth jutsu? No, that would be Iwa… Is she from Iwa? He quickly struggles before pinching his chakra, causing him to snap out of it. "Nice, genjutsu!" Keichi sends out both dragons, each passing Renai, one wrapping it's tail around her leg trying to pull it up and drag her up in the air by it, while the other passes her stomach with a relatively soft lash. Just to show he could have cut it up.

COMBAT: Keichi attacks Renai with NIN-TRAINING…26

COMBAT: Keichi attacks Renai with NIN-TRAINING…23

COMBAT: Renai defends against NIN-TRAINING(26) attack from Keichi with a EARTH-DOME…18

COMBAT: Renai defends against NIN-TRAINING(23) attack from Keichi with a BLOCK…12

Renai smiles as he figures out the genjutsu. Well, that's good. He's smart. She really likes to work with smart people. When the dragon comes near her, she folds her hands into seals again, the earth rising up around her in the attempt to form a blockade. She makes a small yelp when she's pulled up into the air, her good arm flailing around a bit. The next attack is pushed at unsuccessfully by her arms. She frowns. That would have been a bad position to be in, indeed, if he were a more malicious person. The kunoichi tips her head back and looks down. While this is nice, she doesn't seem to like being upside down.

Keichi calmly sets her down and pulls his dragons back. Mandoreku wrapping around him like a decorative snake. "Fashionable and practical…" Keichi chuckles, winking at Renai and sitting down in a lotus position. "So, who's your sensei?" He asks.

Renai rights herself as she's set down, brushing herself off with her good hand and moving to retrieve her sling. She walks back toward him as she slips the restraint on, wiggling a little as she pins her arms into place tightly so that it can't move. "Doihara Ishino," she answers him quietly as she studies the dragons. "I look forward to getting to know your style better. Maybe we'll get to go on a mission sometime?" She smiles to him, but the expression is quickly lost in a cringe as a ringing noise emits from her pocket.

'The clock of doom huh?' Keichi chuckles audibly and shoos Renai with his hands. "Perhaps, if we do, I look forward to working with such a competent Shinobi!" He smiles and squats, Causing Mandoreku and Raidorku to curl together into the shape of a large wooden hand, waving at Renai. Keichi smirks. "I'm looking forward to Doihara's tutallage!"

Renai watches as the dragons form into a hand, a soft giggle erupting from her. "Go get yourself a watch. You'll need it. Ishino's family has a shop." She runs quickly over to her basket, as awkward as it seems with her unequal balance and all. She picks it up and is gone quickly, blurring from sight.